Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) vs. Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Head-To-Head Contrast

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) and Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Hope Bancorp and Valley National Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hope Bancorp	0	3	0	0	2.00
Valley National Bancorp	2	5	3	0	2.10

Hope Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $11.33, suggesting a potential upside of 10.25%. Valley National Bancorp has a consensus price target of $9.67, suggesting a potential upside of 34.26%. Given Valley National Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Valley National Bancorp is more favorable than Hope Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares Hope Bancorp and Valley National Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hope Bancorp	12.19%	7.03%	0.73%
Valley National Bancorp	14.82%	8.67%	0.89%

Volatility & Risk

Hope Bancorp has a beta of 1.13, meaning that its stock price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Valley National Bancorp has a beta of 1.09, meaning that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Hope Bancorp and Valley National Bancorp’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hope Bancorp	$1.09 billion	1.13	$133.67 million	$1.12	9.18
Valley National Bancorp	$1.88 billion	1.95	$498.51 million	$0.95	7.58

Valley National Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Hope Bancorp. Valley National Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hope Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

84.0% of Hope Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.0% of Valley National Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.3% of Hope Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of Valley National Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Hope Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.4%. Valley National Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.1%. Hope Bancorp pays out 50.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Valley National Bancorp pays out 46.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Valley National Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Valley National Bancorp beats Hope Bancorp on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hope Bancorp

Hope Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Bank of Hope that provides retail and commercial banking services for businesses and individuals in the United States. It accepts personal and business checking, money market, savings, time deposit, and individual retirement accounts. The company also offers loans comprising commercial and industrial loans to businesses for various purposes, such as working capital, purchasing inventory, debt refinancing, business acquisitions, international trade finance, other business-related financing, and loans syndication services; commercial real estate loans; residential mortgage loans; small business administration loans; and consumer loans, such as single-family mortgage, home equity, automobile, credit card, and personal loans. In addition, it provides internet banking and bill-pay, remote deposit capture, lock box, and ACH origination services; treasury management services; foreign currency exchange transactions; interest rate contracts and wealth management services; automated teller machine services; and engages in investment activities. Hope Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

About Valley National Bancorp

Valley National Bancorp operates as the holding company for Valley National Bank that provides various commercial, private banking, retail, insurance, and wealth management financial services products. It operates through Consumer Banking, Commercial Banking, and Treasury and Corporate other segments. The company offers non-interest bearing, savings, NOW, money market, and time deposit accounts; commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, residential mortgage, and automobile loans; loans secured by the cash surrender value of life insurance; home equity loans and lines of credit; automobile financing; and secured and unsecured other consumer loans. It also invests in various securities and interest-bearing deposits with other banks; and provides international banking services, such as standby and documentary letters of credit, and related products, as well as foreign exchange transactions, documentary collections, and foreign wire transfers services. In addition, the company offers investment services for individuals and small to medium sized businesses; and trusts investment strategies designed for various investment profiles and objectives. Further, it provides trust services, such as living and testamentary trusts, investment management, custodial and escrow services, and estate administration to individuals; tax credit advisory services; brokerage services; property and casualty, life, health, and title insurance agency services; and health care equipment lending and other commercial equipment leasing services, as well as owns real estate related investments. Additionally, the company offers online, mobile, and telephone banking services; receivable, payment, and security solution, merchant, payroll processing, and liquidity services; credit cards; and drive-in and night deposit, automated teller machine, remote deposit capture, and safe deposit facility services. Valley National Bancorp was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Morristown, New Jersey.